“The only way to restore the truth and my name and to leave no shadow is the full and in-depth investigation of the case by the Greek justice system.”
This was stressed by the MP for Trikala, Kostas Skrekas, during his statement in the plenary session on the waiver of immunity for his investigation by the judiciary for the possible misdemeanour offence of incitement to harm the interests of the EU, according to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office file on OPEKEPE that has been forwarded to the Parliament.
Mr. Skrekas, addressing the MPs, called on them “to vote in favour of the proposal to lift my immunity so that the case to which I refer is brought to justice as soon as possible, where only the reality and the truth can be fully restored“.
Referring to the substance of the case, Mr. Skrekas said that “it concerned a real farmer, with a real crop where in previous years he received a similar amount of aid to the year in question as he received in subsequent years, as proven by independent and independent audits. The farmer’s crop was cotton and in order to receive the coupled aid it is required that he has purchased and used specific kilograms of certified seed per variety and per parcel. In 2020, while this farmer had purchased the necessary quantities on a common invoice, his agronomic advisor by apparent error did not include in his OCR declaration one of the three varieties included in the original invoice and therefore was not paid the cotton coupled aid. The invoice of the actual seed varieties had been uploaded on the platform properly within the time limit, which is even acknowledged in the transmittal of the case file and is the most crucial evidence as it proves that there is no falsification.”
The MP stressed that “nothing illegal was asked of me, nor did I ask for anything illegal, nor did I suggest anything at all.The farmer’s agronomic advisor applied for a remedy and at the same time came to my political office to investigate the case. There was no misrepresentation of the farm. No false evidence. For all of the above and because I believe that the only way to restore the truth, my name and that there is no shadow is the full and in-depth investigation of the case by the Greek judiciary.”
